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Experience all the excitement from every angle, exclusively at SoundCheck Mag!


The Academy Is… A Time Capsule in Motion
Almost Here’s 20th anniversary tour shone as a living, breathing love letter to the 2000s. Article & Photos by Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff There are shows that feel like concerts, and then there are shows that feel like stepping through a wormhole in time. The Academy Is…’s Almost Here 20th Anniversary tour landed firmly in the latter, pulling the crowd headfirst into the glittering, angst-laced heartbeat of the mid-2000s and refusing to let go. The Academy Is… performing at Em
Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff
Apr 28


Rise Against Turn Vancouver Into a Roaring, Generational Singalong
An unrelenting set of hits by Rise Against—a fleeting moment of stillness, and a crowd that carried every word.


Lauren Spencer Smith Turns Raw Emotion Into a Shared Language at The Moore Theatre
An emotional final tour stop filled with beautifully belted notes, shocking confessions, and connection across all ages Article & Photos by Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff On a cool March evening in Seattle, The Moore Theatre transformed into something more than a venue — it became a confessional. The kind where hundreds of voices don’t just listen, but answer back in laughter and recognition. The night opened with two rising artists who each set the emotional tone in their own dist
Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff
Mar 26


Hawthorne Heights Bring If Only You Were Lonely Back to Life at El Corazon
From Warped Tour memories to a crowd-immersed finale, the band bridges past and present in Seattle. Article & Photos by Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff On that typical drizzly Tuesday night in Seattle, El Corazon was packed with a crowd nearly going out the door. Emo fans spanning generations gathered, filling every corner of the darkly lit venue, shouting lyrics, hands held high in the air, singing their hearts out to songs rushing back as if it were still 2006, the album spinning
Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff
Mar 20


More Than Sad Songs: Justin Furstenfeld at Neptune Theatre
A candid night of music, memory, and choosing how to live the one life we get on this spinning rock. Article & Photos by Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff I walked into the Neptune Theatre chasing something familiar — the kind of catharsis only the lyrics of your youth, long buried in the recesses of your mind, can unlock. Little did I know that I would walk out with something far more personal. What unfolded onstage wasn’t just a two-hour rock performance, rather a revealing conversa


Dean Lewis in Seattle: Warm Voices, Cool Lights, and a Crowd That Felt Every Word
A night of intimacy and reflection that warmed a winter crowd. Article and Photos contributed by Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff January 19th at Showbox SoDo had the crowd of concert-goers feeling like their own cozy little world tucked inside the grungy brick venue walls — even as the chilly winter air outside made it clear just how deep into January the PNW was. By showtime, the room was already humming, bodies packed shoulder to shoulder, phones raised and waiting, the anticipati
Vaneza Gutiérrez Wyckoff
Jan 29


The Hits That Never Reached #1 (But Everyone Thinks They Did)
The reasoning behind some of the greatest songs in history never made it to the top spot on the charts.
Just imagine, hearing the same songs everywhere you go - at a bar, a mall, a grocery store, or the radio, and thinking that there is no way it didn’t hit the number one spot on the charts. The reality is that some of the songs that marked our middle school, high school, or college experiences didn’t even come close to that coveted spot.

Monica Soriano
Jan 17


Hot Take: Do We Even Need Genres Anymore?
There was a time when genres held real power. They were the industry’s filing system, the listener’s compass, the cultural shorthand for who you were and what you stood for. If you said you were into rock, people made assumptions about your personality. If you said you loved pop, people assumed something entirely different. Genres carried weight, identity, and meaning.

LJ Portnoy
Dec 21, 2025
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